Pocaterra Ridge – November 21, 2009

Mountain height:         2670 m
Elevation gain:            470 m
Roundtrip time:           5 hours

Snowshoeing with Mark.

An unusually deep snowpack for the month of November prompted us to head to Highwood Pass. The gate to the area closes on December 1 and therefore we wanted to take advantage of the early snow. 

The weather was expectedly dismal, however, travel into Pocaterra Cirque easy and enjoyable, even with bleak skies. We were not the only people with this idea – several groups of skiers passed us along the way. They were going in the same general direction as we were, but stopped halfway up the south ridge of Pocaterra Ridge to get in some turns. We continued up to the summit. Care was required for the final hundred horizontal metres of the ascent, but was otherwise very easy. The summit panorama would have been fantastic on a clear day. A wonderfully easy descent ended the day – good to be back on the “shoes” again.


Entering Pocaterra Cirque


Heading up to the south ridge; Highwood Ridge and Grizzly col behind


Almost at the ridge


The sun tries to make an appearance


The final hundred metres


Mark leads the last part


Mark at the summit


Me heading to the summit; Mount Tyrwhitt in the centre


Looking north at the summit


Returning to the false summit


Tyrwhitt again


Looking at the east ridge of Mount Pocaterra


Same as above


Looking down to Little Highwood Pass

LOG